Due to the environment in which she grew up, Onyxia has always been very sensitive to things like conspiracy.
Nefarian, who had made an appointment to keep in touch, suddenly lost contact, and the Dragonmaw clan suddenly appeared in Northeron. Onyxia instinctively suspected that this matter might be related to death.
Wings are related.
This is not Onyxia's random guess.
A few years ago, Nefarian took the initiative to reveal a piece of information.
Deathwing was not satisfied with the progress of his chromatic dragon experiments, and had apparently lost patience.
At that time, Deathwing ordered Nefarian to abandon the colorful dragon project that he had been working on for many years and instead study a new mutant dragon species called the twilight dragon.
Nefarian, who was obsessed with research, was of course very dissatisfied with this. His overt and covert behavior attracted the wrath of Deathwing, and serious disagreements arose within the Black Dragon faction that betrayed Wyrmrest Temple.
It was at that time that Sharlayan began to strengthen his ties with Nefarian. The Black Dragon Prince no longer planned to put his eggs in one basket and take all the risks. He began to find a way out for himself.
Onyxia is very aware of the temper of her crazy father. Even if Nefarian is behind it, he will not give up his investment in the Twilight Dragon project, but will further increase his efforts.
In other words, after several years of secret research and development, the Twilight Dragon project should have seen some signs.
It was at this time that the Dragonmaw clan broke its previous principle of seclusion and returned to the sun. Onyxia couldn't help but think of this.
As an immortal species suffering from severe procrastination, the efficiency of the Dragon Clan's work can be imagined to be slow.
Onyxia estimated that it would still take at least half a month before the reinforcements from Wyrmrest Temple arrived in Northeron, but at least it was better than nothing... maybe they would be able to come over to clean up the mess by then.
Sharlayan, who has always been vigorous and resolute, is not as gentle as the dragons.
After getting the token from Falstad, he immediately activated the space beacon burned on Onyxia's belly, and opened the directional portal with Jaina to reach the scene.
[Lower abdomen? The location where your space beacon is burned is a bit inappropriate.]
[There’s a story, it’s a bit like that pattern.]
Sarlayan: "...don't ask, it was Aoni who requested it herself."
[Hiss~The Black Dragon Princess knows how to play.]
Jaina lowered her head and glanced at the space beacon that was still flashing on Onyxia's belly, and glanced at Sarlayan, who seemed to have an unchanging expression, with a very subtle look.
"During my absence, have you come up with new tricks?"
"Ahem~" Sarlayan coughed lightly and brought back the off-track topic: "Business matters, let's talk about these chores when we go home."
"Oni, please report the situation. What are the results of the preliminary investigation?"
…
"Wait a minute……"
After listening to Onyxia's briefest report, Sharlayan suddenly frowned and asked: "The ruins of the village you mentioned...could it be a small Wildhammer village called Dunward?"
"Hmm..." Onyxia raised her head and recalled: "The sign at the entrance of the village does seem to say Dunward. What? Is there a problem?"
Sarlayan rubbed his eyebrows with a headache: "The problem is big. The guide Falstad asked us to find is a Dunward man. Where should we find him now?"
Onyxia shrugged and gave her own advice: "Anyway, there are more than one Wildhammer dwarf villages in Northeron. Find another village and ask for directions."
"But don't blame me for not reminding you. According to Velas and Julian, the Wildhammer dwarves here are very unfriendly to outsiders."
Sarlayan sighed and said: "After all, I still have to try to make contact. I hope that guy named Delvin Stormhammer did not die in Dunward."
…
The ruins of Dunward are located in the most fertile plains of southern Northron.
Of course, this area has become the front line for the battle between the Wildhammer dwarves and the dragon howler orcs, so it is not too surprising that the dragon roar orcs will be the first to destroy it.
The terrain in the northern part of the Northron Highlands is relatively complex and relatively uninhabitable.
But even so, the Wildhammer dwarves who stayed in Northeron have also set up many strongholds here. Not far east of the Vermilion Sanctuary is a small town called Sandmar. It is said that this is the home of the Wildhammer dwarves.
The most important transit base in the Northron region.
Saying goodbye to the red dragon hatchlings and young dragonmaws in the Vermilion Sanctuary, in order to avoid alerting the local Wildhammer dwarves, Sarlayan and his party deliberately chose to walk to Sandmar.
Sure enough, when they saw the small town of Sandmar built in the valley, they were stopped by several gryphon knights who had been patrolling in the sky.
"Stop! Strangers are not welcome in Sandmar!"
Sarlayan took out the badge given by Falstad from the space package and explained loudly: "I am a friend of Lord Falstad of Wildhammer. I need your help on important matters!"
"Falstad? Dragon Reaver?"
The gryphon knights' attitudes softened significantly after hearing this name.
However, judging from their tone, the Griffin Knights did not respect the identity of Lord Falstad, but the general Falstad who was known as the Dragon Reaver.
‘Sure enough, the folk customs are strong.’
For the sake of the Dragon Reavers, Sarlayan and his party were finally brought to the town of Sandmar, where they were received by a mayor who looked powerful.
Yes, the powerful mayor.
Sarlayan speculated that the mayor of this town was 80% elected by force rather than his ability to govern.
"Haha! I didn't expect that kid Falstad to still remember us thornheads who don't want to leave our homeland!"
The mayor named Winters Ironbeard had a very loud voice. After learning the intention of Sarlayan and others, he welcomed the four of them with a big smile.
"Since we are friends of the Dragon Reaver, we have to give him some face at least."
"Tell me, friends from the Alliance, do you need our help?"
After all, he is also the leader of a town. Winters at least knows that the Wildhammer dwarves are also members of the Alliance, and they don't seem to be as exclusive as the rough and tough people under his rule.
…
"Dragon Roar Orc..."
Speaking of the group of orcs who suddenly appeared in the past year or so, Winters's face immediately turned ugly, and the veins that bulged from clenching his fists could be clearly seen on his thick arms.
After taking several deep breaths, Winters controlled his emotions and looked at Onyxia who asked the question with a heavy face.
"Girl, as you said, the reason why the Dragonmaw Clan was able to catch us off guard is because they got help from a group of purple baby dragons out of nowhere."
"I swear by my grandfather's beard, in my 200 years of life, I have never seen a dragon with purple scales before."
"Purple scales?"
Sarlayan and Onyxia looked at each other with frowns: "Mayor Winters, are you sure those dragons are purple in appearance? Not black, which is a dull color?"
Winters shook his head firmly: "No, no! I also participated in the Second Orc War, and fought with the red dragon knights of the tribe in the sky. I can still distinguish the colors of the dragons clearly."
"Tsk!"
Onyxia scratched her hair in annoyance: "The Twilight Dragon... did it really appear?"
"Yes, yes!" Winters suddenly clapped his hands and said, "That's what those Dragonmaw scum call those purple baby dragons! Twilight Dragon!"
A cold light flashed in Sarlayan's eyes: "It seems that my mother's disappearance is probably related to the Twilight Dragon."
"I don't think the current Twilight Dragon can pose a threat to her, so..."
Valeera, who was in charge of intelligence work, took over and said: "She must have discovered some important clues. In order not to alert others, she kept silent and pursued them all the way. I just don't know where she is now."
Sarlayan sneered and gave the solution: "Since it is basically certain that my mother's disappearance is related to the Twilight Dragon, the best way is to directly go to the people behind the Twilight Dragon and question her."
"I want to see who is hiding behind the scenes of the war in Northron and stirring up trouble."
"Oh? You want to deal with the scum of Dragonmaw?"
Hearing that Sharlayan wanted to cause trouble for the Dragonmaw clan, Winters, who was not very familiar with the topic, immediately became interested.
"If that's the case, the Wildhammer boys can provide you with some help."
"That's right." Winters suddenly remembered something and clapped his forehead with his big hand: "Aren't you looking for Delvin? I can show you the way."
"After Dunward Village was captured, the seriously injured Delvin and his griffon were sent to Cooshaven Village to recuperate. Calculating the time, he should be almost recovered."
"Cooshaven?" Sarlayan asked with a slight frown: "Mayor Winters, where is the village of Cooshaven?"
Winters raised his hand and pointed to the northeast: "It's on the high ground east of Sandmar Town. It's considered the rear area and is relatively safe."